Tackling spring cleanup, decluttering at home
We view the spring season as a great time to get clean and organized at home — while nature reorganizes itself, we, too, can do so in our personal spaces. The best experts for a spring overhaul are professional organizers like Allison Weigensberg of Everything In Place and Mylene Houle of Zen: Organisation familiale, who have their own systematic ways of tackling key seasonal projects.
Entrance —
Weigensberg said she begins the process in the entryway, where winter clothing and accessories need to be swapped out for warmer weather necessities.
“It’s the first thing that you greet, and you need to get rid of the winter gear and start to bring out the lighter stuff, which can be tricky with our climate,” she said. “So try and have spring stuff handy, but don’t completely put away the winter stuff till you know the cold has definitely passed.
“You can have a bin in the front for the transition period.”
Garage —
Houle likes to get the garage reorganized first to accommodate her family’s active lifestyle, but this area also serves as their makeshift mudroom in the wintertime, meaning she, too, switches out the winter clothes.
“The changing of seasons means changing sports and all of the winter gear, so I have a set of bins to bring the mittens, hats, etc. into storage again,” she explained. “Each child has their own personal bin in order to limit chaos.
“I also like organizing different categories of items in the garage into hockey bags; they work really well when it comes to putting things away for the season as well as travelling, and they’re easy to put away into ceiling cages.”
Clothes —
Closets are next on our organizers’ spring to-do lists. “Depending on space, we’ll rotate bins from downstairs if there’s not enough closet space in the bedrooms,” Houle said. “Labelling is so essential, too.”
This switchover to more season-friendly clothes is also a great opportunity to take an inventory of winter wardrobes and decide what’s worth keeping and what isn’t.
“If you haven’t worn it the last few seasons, do a bit of a purge to get rid of stuff,” Weigensberg said.
You can throw out items that are stained or worn out, and donate other items that are still wearable.
Food —
Finally, these organizers take advantage of the spring season to clean out cupboards and other food storage spaces.
“I look through my pantry for things that have expired, and I use bins like drawers and group things together, so it’s easy to take them out, wipe down the shelves, go through the bins, and then refresh and restock,” Weigensberg said.
Houle added: “I defrost (items in) the deep freezer to make space for ‘spring’ cooking.
“With spring comes barbecue season again, so I need room for different types of food. You don’t want to have any dormant, unlabelled meats.”
While spring is the ideal time to give your home some organizational TLC, Houde and Weigensberg said regular maintenance is the best way to keep a home efficient and clean.
“I try to do all of this a few times a year,” Weigensberg said, “but in spring you can finally open the windows and let everything breathe.
“Maintenance is such an important part of the overall organizational process.”